Earphone socket



1, 1946- P. VENEKLASEN- 8,

EARPHONE SOCKET Filed June 7, 1945 Patented Oct. 1,1946

UNITED ,STAT

EARPHONE' sooner Paul S. Veneklasen, Saugus, Mass, assignor to the United States of America, represented by the Executive Secretary of the Office of Scientific Research and Development 1945, Serial No. 598,168

Application Julie. '7,

This invention relates to communication equip ment and more particularly .to an earphone socket for use with headbands, aviation helmets, and the like. 4

An object of the invention is to improve receiver sockets and to devise a resilient support- 2 C-laim s. (01179-182) 4 socket with an earphone may he resorted to, in

ing body which is adapted tooverlie the outer ear and to be maintained firmly against the side of the head without discomfort. Another object of the invention is to. provide means in an earphone socket for furnishing acoustic insulation. Another object of the invention is to provide a design of earphone socket which provides for acoustic sensitivity, which is simple, easily installed and removed, emcient, and readily'made by conventional molding processes. Other objects, will appear from the following description of the invention.

.In the accompanying drawing:

Fig. 1 is a symmetrical central cross section of the receiver socket of the invention;

Fi 2 is an inner elevational view of the socket;

Fig, 3 i an outer elevational view of the socket;

Fig. 4 is a modification of the invention,

The socket, as. shown in the drawing, generally includes a compliant annular body whichis characterized by two sides of rubber or rubber-like material arranged in spaced-apart relation. The sides are molded with concentric corrugations which form an inner section and an outer section respectively of thesock'et. I t V The outer section isadapted to be attached to a headband or other headgear by means of a ring member recessed therein Pressure is applied through the ring member to hold the outer section firmly against the head.

The inner section of the socket surrounds and. grips a receiver and is connected to the outer section by relatively flexible web portions which permit the receiver to be readily displaced in directions either axially or angularly with respect v to the outer section.

Considering the drawing in greater detail, numeral 2 denotes a receiver which may be of any desired type such as, for example, an ANB- I-I-l U. S. Army type of receiver. is formed with grooves 4 and 6 in which are snugly fitted annular retaining edgesii and [B of upper and lower sides respectively of the socket member as viewed in Fig. 1.

The receiver is easily inserted and removed by stretching the retaining edges 8 and I and forcing the earphone 2 through openings defined by the retaining edge as shown. If desired, various other means of engaging the sides of the The receiver j yield axially with respect to the outer socket secaccordancewith variations in receiver design.

The two sides appearing as upper and lower sides respectively of the socket shown in Fig. 1, comprise a continuous body of resilient material such as rubber, neoprene, or similar substances, doubled over uponitself, with the doubled-over portions being arranged in spaced-apart relation. The upper side of the material, as viewed in Fig. 1, is characterized by a relatively thick body portion l2, which serves both to receive a ring member i4 in a channel 16 and to furnish an appreciable mass for acoustic insulation along this region of the socket. The ring member I4 is adapted to be attached to a yoke portion of a headband or other gear. The, yoke may, for ex ample, be formed :with pins or other means for engaging with the ring l4, and as this structure forms no part of the present invention, it has been omitted from the drawing.

.At points between the ring l4 and the retain.- ing edge 8, the socket material has been corrugated to form a relatively thin annular web portion it, which is, of a generally curved or rolled edge type of construction. The web portion 58., due to itsrolled edge construction and the resilience of the socket material, functions to permit displacement of the receiver 2 in various directions; as for example, axially with respect to the ring It or an ularly with respect to this member. H

The socket material, as viewed in Fig. 1, is doubled over to form a lower side. which is also corrugated to provide anouter rollededge 20 and an inner rolled'edge 24 connected together by'a I thin curved web portion 23. The web portion 23 functions in the same manner as web [8 to permit'displacement of the receiver 2 relative to the outer rolled edge 20. There is thus obtained an outer socket section and inner socket section flexibly coupled together by means of the two web portions in such a way that one of the sections may be displaced in various directions with respect to the other section.

Thus the receiver and inner socket sectionmay tion when the latter section is pressed against the head, preventing excessive pressure by the inner section. In addition, the inner section and receiver may be displaced angularly with respect to the outer section. Such angular displacement is especially advantageous for the reason that the outer ear or auricle in its normal position, occurs in an offset or somewhat asymmetrical position with respect to the side of the head, and similarly so with respect to the opening of the ear canal. It is pointed out, therefore, that in order for the socket to engage against the side of the head and to contact the tender cartilage portions of the ear without forcing such portions against the head, the outer section of the socket member is required to be positioned in an ofiset position with respect to the inner section, The flexibly coupled section are especially suitable for this purpose, and also provide a means of reducing the volume of air between the ear canal and receiver, thus improving acoustic sensitivity. In

comparison with other types of earphone sockets in which no inner seal is provided, the inner rim of the invention, by sealing along the region of the concha, substantially reduces the volume in which sound pressure must be generated. Therefore, for a given power input to the receiver more pressure will be generated in the smaller volume.

The rolled edge 2!! is characterized by an appreciable air space occurring inside of this portion of the socket to provide a cushioning eifect which allows the rolled edge to act as an excellent sealing rim. When the socket member is urged against the side of the head, a relatively tight seal may be obtained with a minimum of discomfort as a result of the compliance of the socket material and this cushioning effect. A seal of this character is especially desirable in order to exclude ambient noise from passing between the head and the socket.

Similarly, the inner rolled edge 24 is of hollow construction to provide a second air space 26 and cushioning effect. In this connection it should be noted that the rolled edge 24 forms a secondary sealing rim which is adapted to engage against those portions of the ear surrounding the concha, thus further excluding ambient noise. Furthermore, the secondary sealing effect may be carried out with little discomfort since the inner rolled edge 24 is yieldable both by reason of the cushioning effect of the air space and the flexibly coupled arrangement of the inner section of the socket member. The ability of the inner section to be displaced relative to the outer section also allows the secondary seal to be achieved with variations in size and shape of difierent ears. It is further intended that the space between the inner and outer rolled edges may serve as a place for receiving the outer portion of the ear.

Another important feature of the invention consists in substantial noise attenuation obtained by acoustic low-pass filtering means from the two 4 sections of the socket. Thus it will be observed in the drawing that the space included within the sealing rim 2!) presents a volume of air through which sound may be required to pass; the space between the sealing rim 2!] and the sealing rim 24 represents a second space; and. the space included by the sealing rim 24 itself represents still a third space. Similarly, the space between the upper layer of socket material and the lower layer, as viewed in Fig. 1, also provides acoustic filtering. The air spaces, together with the mass of the socket material exert a definite filtering action, tending to provide sound in- Y sulation.

It will be seen, therefore, that the invention combines a convenient means of supporting an earphone with provisions for comfort, good acoustic insulation, acoustic sensitivity, adjustability, and simplicity in manufacture.

The drawing illustrates a preferred embodiment of the invention. It should be understood, however, that various changes may be resorted to, as have, for example, been shown in Fig. 4, in which the socket member is provided with ring member 30 engaged along an outer peripheral edge of the socket. Similarly, the socket is formed with retaining edges 32 and 34 which define a continuous air space 36. extending between the sides and which engage around a receiver 38. Various other changes may also be desired in accordance with the spirit of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. An earphone socket comprising an outer sealing section formed with a rolled sealing edge and an inner section for supporting an earphone, said inner section being connected to the outer section by flexible, annular Web portions, said inner section further including a sealing rim characterized by an air space, said rim adapted to engage around those portions of an ear adjacent to the concha.

2. An earphone socket comprising a compliant sheet material doubled over upon itself, said doubled over portions being arranged in spacedapart relation to form inner and outer sides of the socket, said doubled over portions being formed with concentric corrugations which provide an outer sealing rim and an inner sealing rim, said corrugated portions defining air spaces which function as acoustic filtering means when the earphone socket is engaged about an ear.

PAUL S. VENEKLASEN. 

